Further Resources

Researching Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) at the National Gallery of Ireland

A Lady Writing a Letter, with her Maid (c.1670) has been the subject of several articles in academic journals and in essays by art historians, including Arthur Wheelock (1997, 2010, 2011), Lawrence Gowing (1997) and Wayne Franits (2004). A common subject of each of the art historians cited is the interpretation of the elusive meaning of this painting, its hidden subject matter, as well as discussions on the treatment of geometry, and its provenance.

However the most extensive discussion of the painting’s meaning is found in the National Gallery of Ireland’s exhibition catalogue ‘Love letters: Dutch genre painting in the age of Vermeer’ (2003) with contributions by leading Vermeer experts including Peter Sutton, Lisa Vergara and Ann Jensen Adams, among others. Monographs on the life of the artist are increasing in line with Vermeer’s current popularity. The oldest monograph held in the National Gallery of Ireland’s library is an illustrated biography from 1908 (illustrated above).